Legislation
The 2011 City Council elections will be held on Tuesday November 8th. The Greensboro Police Officers Association has endorsed several of the candidates. Below is the list of candidates whom GPOA feels our most supportive of our goals. Please take the time to vote in the election and share our endorsements with family and friends who are registered to vote in Greensboro.
Mayor – Robbie Perkins
At Large – Nancy Vaughn
Yvonne Johnson
Mary Kay Abuzuaiter
District 1 – Diane Bellamy-Small
District 2 – Jim Kee
District 3 – Zack Matheny
District 4 – None endorsed
District 5 – None endorsed
You can view city council information by clicking on the above link.
North Carolina General Assembly
You can view General Assembly information by clicking on the above link.
Items of interest for GPOA:
H.R. 4899
We have been tracking different versions of the Federal Collective Bargaining Bill for a while now. The most recent version, called the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, has been attached to a major spending Bill and shows signs of passing within a short time frame. If this legislation passes as it is currently written, it would be an enormous benefit to our members, as well as to other law enforcement officers throughout our state and other states that do not current afford officers the right to collectively bargain to improve working conditions. I strongly urge each of you to look up this Bill (H.R. 4899) Search for Bill and read the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act to see what this legislation would mean to you. It is also strongly reccomended that you contact your senators and request their support of this legislation, although Senator Kay Hagan has made it abundantly clear that she will not support this legislation.
Federal Collective Bargaining Senate Bill 3194
The current federal effort to institute collective bargaining for public employees is Senate Bill 3194 (S.3194). This bill, available for tracking at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-3194), was introduced on April 12, 2010 by Senator Harry Reid. The bill is identical to the previous collective bargaining bill S.1611 which was pulled in May of 2008 due to the continued addition of amendments that would have not allowed collective bargaining to pass the Senate. The bill was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. The bill is eligible for Senate floor consideration. If passed, the House will approve an identical bill, thus circumventing the House committee process. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law. The state of North Carolina would be under Federal mandate to recognize associations such as the GPOA and agree to bargain. There is no current timetable for the advancement of the Senate bill. We are awaiting a response from Senator Kay Hagan on an expected date for the vote.
North Carolina Senate Bill 750
The North Carolina bill to Restore Contract Rights for Public Employees (House Bill 750) was filed on March 24, 2009. The bill was referenced to the Committee on Judiciary. There is no current action on the bill.
Greensboro Local Topics
The meetings sponsored by the City of Greensboro for input on the new Greensboro Chief of Police were not well attended. If you or any other members have suggestions for Chief selection, please email Wendy Raines through the GPOA website. Remember to make constructive suggestions that will highlight positive attributes for a new Chief.